Tour of Oak Brook - IL State Road Race Championships

As I was prepping my race gear on Friday I realized that I had it back - I was excited to race. The last two weeks I just went through the motions of racing. It was some mixture of nerves and intimidation after actually making it to the level that had been my primary goal for this season.

Coming into the race I had three goals:
1) Stay hydrated
2) Be realistic and manage myself in the heat as best as possible
3) Top 10 finish

This was going to be a long race and my strategy was to simply conserve as much energy as possible while staying near the front to (hopefully) latch onto any breaks which showed promise. Not very original. I figured things would really kick off within the last five laps.

And damn it was hot and humid.

The race was relatively mellow for quite a while and had a steady rhythm of: attack goes off, gets up the road a few seconds but still within sight, dangles there, and gets brought back in. I wasn't having much trouble maintaining position and my legs felt solid.

Around mile 18 we had some rain to cool us off and make things extra slippery. Just after the tight right of turn number two was a left hand turn with a manhole cover in the middle of the road. That hazard took down Dan (Team Mack) in front of me and I swung to the inside. Unfortunately this took me over the double yellow and the same thing almost happened to me. My wheels skipped and slid and I kept it upright through the right mix of luck and skill.

That was all the drama I needed.

Fast forward to midway through lap number five on the backside of the course. Remember how I thought things were going to kick off within the last five? Yeah, it was a self-fulfilling prediction. I lost my patience and attacked.

I took a quick glance back as I crested the final hill. No one had come along with me. Cursing. Ugh. Solo. Again. Sigh. More cursing.

I just signed a half hour lease for my own personal pain cave.

Familiar territory for me though and I was expecting some help sooner or later.

Rocking down the final (long) straightaway to the start/finish I had a good feeling about my move. The legs were moving smoothly and I wasn't experiencing any heat fatigue like I had previously. Only four laps to go. Only. (Or was it five, I don't know. My memory goes out the window when I'm on the limit.)

Coming back around again I had someone tell me that there were four people bridging up. They never made it unfortunately. A quick glance back and I saw Jeff Wat (vw-Trek) as the lone rider still attempting to bridge. I knew we could work together well and I thought of easing up to let him latch on, but I didn't. Without knowing the gap between myself and the field, and then between Jeff and the field, I simply didn't want to give up any of the separation I had already worked to establish. Race radio would be awsm about now, plzkthx!

This decision may have ultimately proved my undoing.

Three laps and I'm feeling strong, two laps and my power numbers are starting to fade, bell lap and I'm wilting. The peloton is on my heels but I'll make them work for it. No free meals. The pack reeled me in and made the catch just after turn two.

From this point on I was just hanging on hoping for that top ten. Luckily everyone else seemed just about as spent as I was and the pace was not as blistering as I was expecting. I gave everything I had on that final stretch and still finished 14th.

I don't know whether to be disappointed or not.

It was pointed out to me that if I had allowed Jeff to latch on we would have had eight guys back in the peloton blocking for us. The thought had never occurred to me earlier. I'm so accustomed to being the only rider racing for my team and when I'm turning out a 100% effort like that I don't exactly think straight. An opportunity perhaps lost to a rookie mistake. A good strategy question to contemplate.

Well, close doesn't count in bike racing, but I had a fun time with my almost this time around.